Stroud day care where infant died faces permanent ban

Wednesday

Jan 30, 2013 at 12:01 AM

The state Department of Public Welfare is trying to keep the owner of a Stroud Township day care facility, where a 3-month-old boy died in November, from ever operating again, DPW spokesman Anne Bale said Tuesday.

ANDREW SCOTT

The state Department of Public Welfare is trying to keep the owner of a Stroud Township day care facility, where a 3-month-old boy died in November, from ever operating again, DPW spokesman Anne Bale said Tuesday.

The DPW is pursuing a "legally binding prohibition" against Thompson Family Daycare operator Deborah Thompson.

It was Thompson's facility on Jamie Court where Jasaan Feliciano was found unresponsive prior to being pronounced dead at Pocono Medical Center on Nov. 29.

The DPW is pursuing the binding prohibition after the facility appealed a decision by the state to revoke the facility's license to operate.

"This is the first case I've ever seen in my time here of us seeking to keep a day care facility closed," Bale said.

After Jasaan's death, the DPW inspected the facility and found seven violations, including age-inappropriate rest equipment for children, using a space heater in children's presence and unavailable records of animal immunizations.

As a result, the DPW revoked the facility's license and shut it down.

"In other cases, we try to work with facilities to correct whatever violations they have so that they can reopen," Bale said. "The fact that we want this particular facility to remain permanently closed shows how severe we find these violations to be. We feel these violations placed the other children in danger."

Monroe County Coroner Bob Allen said what killed the baby is undetermined and believes facility staff's actions are not to blame, but police are still investigating.

The DPW's report says Jasaan was placed on his stomach on a queen-size mattress where he was later found unresponsive. The report states milk was around Jasaan's neck and on the bed.

The report also states he was on the bed with pillows, blankets, clothes and a cat and another child in a car seat sleeping there at the same time.

"There are no words to express how heartbreaking (Jasaan's death) has been for my family and myself," facility owner Deborah Thompson wrote in her Jan. 10 letter of appeal to the DPW's Bureau of Hearings and Appeals, a separate entity from the agency's licensing branch. "We love children and would not purposely pose a threat to any of them."

Represented by Stroudsburg attorney Brett Riegel, Thompson in her appeal addressed certain violations, saying the facility had proper rest equipment for children but that the equipment was not set up at the time when DPW inspectors cited her.

She said she notified some but not all parents within 24 hours after Jasaan's death.

"Confusion and shock were all around me and I could not think as clearly as I would (have) liked to," Thompson's letter states. "I wasn't able to find the children's paperwork during the time because of all the commotion. There was too much going on too fast. I never got a fair chance to defend myself."

Thompson said she had passed previous inspections and that it had been more than six years since she had been cited for anything.

"I rarely have had complaints about my day care from parents," she said, adding that she feels her license was hastily revoked. "Everyone I've had at the day care has loved the time they have been here and I offer a service a lot of them cannot find anywhere else. I have been running a day care for over eight years and all the children in my care have been safe and enjoyed their stay."

Attached to Thompson's letter are the inspection summary of violations and license revocation notification.

"If Ms. Thompson loses on her appeal with the bureau, she can then appeal to the DPW's secretary of appeals," Bale said. "If that brings no success, then she can appeal in Commonwealth Court in Harrisburg. This process can take years. Unless a court allows the facility to reopen, we have no intent of letting her operate."